Challenges and Future Directions in Ocean Wave Modeling — A Review

An increasing number of instances in extreme weather events over the global oceans have deepened the concerns on the impact of climate change. The frequency of extreme weather events is also seen to increase attributes to climate change across the globe. In the Indian context, there has been about 285 reported flooding events over the period from 1950 to 2017 that affected nearly 850 million people with many causalities. As the global oceans become stormier, the effects are seen in rising sea level and infrastructural facilities. Major flooding events are caused by tropical cyclone-induced storm surge and associated breaking waves. These extreme weather events coupled with sea level rise have serious repercussions on the coastal vulnerability. Also recently, there is an upsurge in the intensity and tropical cyclone size that forms over the North Indian Ocean region that brought attention among the scientific community. The worst possible scenario of extreme water level can occur when the time of storm surge occurrence coincides with the astronomical high water. This review paper provides a comprehensive overview on the research developments and efforts made in ocean wave modeling in particular for the Indian seas. As per the Fifth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the role and influence of ocean surface gravity wave in the climate system are considered to be very important. At present, numerical models are widely used and that can be used to hindcast and forecast the wave characteristics over both regional and global ocean basin scales. A detailed overview on the observational techniques is listed along with the historical perspective and recent developments in wind-wave modeling for the Indian seas. Recent developments in computing technology and advanced numerical techniques have made it possible to solve the complex problems in coastal science and engineering using state-of-the-art numerical models providing realistic estimates, cost effective and having immense potential in operational weather centers. This review also deals with some of the important issues and future directions in wind-wave modeling studies such as improvements required in momentum transfer, bottom dissipation, and rain–wave interaction effects that require detailed understanding and concentrated efforts.